The question has plagued mankind for a millennium, yet there is no one true set in stone definition for what constitutes it's meaning. Is it something that causes fear and dread in someone? Is it something or someone who does unspeakable acts and are these acts religious or social influence? Or is it simply something that we can't explain that is so far beyond what we recognize or categorize as normal behavior or influence that the only way we can define it is as of an "evil" origin? These questions may never be answered, but it is evident that all are correct in some sort of way when trying to ultimately define this term.

A Nation is BornWe came to this land to flee from persecution. The right to live was our only dream.

Our visions of a new world were filled with disillusion. We split against ourselves right at the seams. The war ahead was promised as a grand conclusion. What resulted was a nation filled with cries and screams. Mothers crying, families torn. This is how our nation was born. Amber waves of grain, farmsteads built with sweat and pain. Our fathers claimed this land, which was taken from the native’s hands. Blood and tears the valleys filled, this is how their nation was killed. Mothers crying, families torn. This is how our nation was born.

Iron horses race the wind. Blood and death carve their tracks. From east to west and end to end, the nation grows but still has many cracks. Many things a nation must mend, the rights of freedom from whites to blacks. Mothers crying, families torn. This is how our nation was born. A world at war and a nation in fear. Everyone knows the end is near. One man rose above and brought devastation to the world instead of love. As a nation we fought hard and long, and throughout history never has a nation been so strong. Mothers crying, families torn. This is how our nation was born. The value of money is in decline. The politicians all say just give it time. We work and work to stay afloat, while gradually sinking in societies boat. The Mayan’s say the end is near. The future of our nation is far from clear. A Nation is Torn

The paranormal has become a prominent aspect of today’s societal views. Everywhere you look there is something about the paranormal being talked about, be it in the form of a television show about ghost hunting, to even in Chevrolet commercials dealing with the end of the world. There are even hulu commercials that talk about aliens controlling our brains through the internet and television. How are we as a society supposed to take anything regarding the paranormal seriously when the media and corporate society laugh and joke about the subject. I believe that the paranormal field should be taken seriously in regards to scientific investigation and interpretation so that we as species can further understand why we are here, what we are here to do and overall how we are going to proceed with our future existence. This is the main reason that I joined a scientific paranormal research agency, to find the answers to such questions and to be able to provide a realistic/explainable answer to some of the questions that as a race we have been trying to answer since the origin of free thought. After all that is what makes us different from all other species in the world. It isn’t that we are more clever or better at hunting and surviving than other species it is the fact that we have the ability to examine and think about our actions and the world around us and interpret the findings (free will). For example a lion doesn’t think about it being wrong that he is killing another creature he does it out of instinctual reasons as to not starve to death. Anyways enough of my ramblings. What I am trying to say is that as a society we need to take seriously the accounts of the paranormal and reflect upon how they can provide answers to some of life’s mysterious questions and not just joke about them and consider them made up, after all those who believe fully in the bible are just believing a compilation of stories that a group of men sat down and wrote (aka a fiction novel).

It has always made me curious about the theory concerning spirit imprinting. What I mean to say is the theory that is going around that certain objects are able to be imprinted by spirits or events. Take for instance limestone and the thought that it acts as like a spiritual tape recorder. What I mean to say is that it is thought that limestone and other types of minerals or rocks are able to be imprinted with events and that you will be able to see the residual account that was imprinted upon them over and over again almost like a tape being played on repeat. The other theory about spirit imprinting concerns items and locations. Take for instance, is it possible for a spirit to imprint a physical place or physical item that they may have been extremely attached to during their physical existence? The questions to these theories are something that as paranormal investigators we always keep in the back of our mind while conducting investigations. Someday maybe we will have all the answers but at the present time we can only contemplate that these scenarios are acceptable and actually happening.

Urban Legends The world is full of stories tat we all consider Urban Legends. What makes an Urban Legend are true Legend? I think that it is the fact that Urban Legends all have some relevance behind them. What I mean to say is that there tends to be some sort of truth behind them. Take for instance the Urban Legend of Sleepy Hollow, one of my favorites. I also think that this is what separates an Urban Legend from a myth or Legend. Legends and myths are things in my opinion are things that are something that has been passed down from generation to generation and seem to have no true distinctions based in truth. Take for instance the wonderful country of Ireland and the myth of Faeries. These are just a few of my views and I would like to know what everyone else thinks about these topics so please feel free to evaluate what I have written or even comment with your own views.

The Unknown What is about the unknown that lures us in? Is it the feeling that anything is possible or the point that we can create anything we want. What I mean to say is that something being unknown allows us to invent anything and everything we want to surround it, whether it be complete nonsense or complete fear. Take for instance the example of the one of my favorite subjects. The black eyed children unknown urban legend. We have no idea if they are what they are explained to be like let alone if they are even real and not just something that someone decided to make up for a story to haunt people. We are told that the black eyed children are children that appear at random and they are indistinguishable from regular teenage children except for 1 discernable trait. They have pitch black eyes. They come to your door in the evening and night and ask random questions such as may we use the restroom or the telephone just to gain entrance to your establishment. Not much is known about the people who actually let them in to do these things but the ones who do not allow entrance and say no are completely terrified because the black eyed children continue to try and gain access by asking the same questions over and over again, and seem to appear wherever you are in the house. What I mean to say is that if you leave the front door and go into your bedroom the next thing you will hear is a knock on your bedroom window and the same question as if they can see through walls and know exactly where you are. Anyways the point I am trying to make is that the phenomenon of these black eyed children is very much unknown so anyone can invent scenarios in their minds eye of what they are,, who they are, what they want and what could possibly happen if they do enter your home. This in my opinion is what makes the concept of the unknown so fascinating because we can bend and manipulate how we please.

Quietness. Is there anything more bone chilling or terrifying than sitting in the complete darkness with absolutely no sound at all. This can be categorized right up there with darkness as one of the most frightening things in the world in my opinion. There is nothing more terrifying than the absence of all sound except for the ambient noise of the night. Not knowing what and when you are going to hear something that isn’t physically present is quite scary. Just recently we did an investigation in the same spot in Shawnee mission park and out of the dead silence in the pitch blackness of the night I heard a stone being tossed and hitting a nearby wall that another investigator had tossed to invoke a response. It was one of the most frightening experiences of the investigation because I did not know that the other investigator had thrown it. Overall dead silence can be a very frightening experience.

THE DARKNESS What is it that makes the darkness so inherently scary? I think it is a mixture of things ranging from fear of what lurks in the shadows, to the fact that you are in total lack of control for the environment in which you are lurking. I have always had a fear of the dark or the unknown. The thing that frightens me the most about the dark is the fact that I have no control over my fight or flight mechanism while in total darkness. Take out last investigation in Shawnee mission park for instance. We investigated an old abandoned foundation in the middle of a field, and I was literaly scared to death the entire time during the investigation. Noises and movement were all around us in the brush of the open field. The fact that I could not see what was making the noises or movement through the brush kept me constantly on edge ready to flee at any second. I was in no control over my flight response. However if we had been doing the same investigation in the light of the day I would not have been so unresponsive to the nerves, because I would have been in control of what I can see. Overall I think we all have a fear of the darkness, which I think makes us all a little more relatable to one another.

Larry Buchanan

I am the fun loving member of S.P.O.O.KS. The paranormal research field has interested me since I was a little kid growing up in the late 80’s and early 90’s. As a kid I was fascinated in every aspect of the paranormal culture including the Ghost Buster movies. The aspect of the paranormal and science is the reason that I am involved in research today.